Bobcats young but mighty

Whiteford’s volleyball team has no seniors on the roster this season, yet the Bobcats are off to their best start in years.

They swept scrappy Summerfield in a doubleheader on a special night Thursday 25-17, 25-15, 25-18 and 25-12, 25-16, 25-21.

Whiteford is off to a 7-0 start in the Tri-County Conference and is 12-5-2 overall.

The Bobcats changed their annual Pink-Out Night to “Supporting Shelby Night” in honor of Summerfield senior Shelby Bruckner who has thyroid cancer.

All of the money raised at the various activities during the evening will go to the Bruckner family to help with medical bills.

“It was a great night for Shelby. I’m glad everybody came out,” said Whiteford coach Kathy Albers. “My most important words to our girls before the match was, ‘Make sure you still perform.’”

The Bobcats have four juniors, five sophomores and a freshman on their roster. Sophomore Janie Bunge had a big night with 19 kills and 26 digs, Kiley Schroyer and Kaleigh Funchion had 18 kills, Courtney Schroyer 28 digs and Jessica Bubacz 27 assists.

The Schroyers are twins but share little in common. Courtney is a libero and Kiley an outside hitter. Kiley is serious, Courtney is the opposite.

“We act like we’re best friends, but we’re not,” Kiley joked. “We love each other. We have the same friends.”

The two sisters have been playing volleyball together since fifth grade. Courtney said the team may be young but it has plenty of experience. “We all get along with each other,” she said. “Wew have a lot of talent.”

Summerfield hasn’t won a league match in two years, but the Bulldogs are getting close. They are 0-6 in the TCC and 3-13 overall.

“We’re just points off,” coach Michelle Hewitt said. “We’re in the 20s a lot. We’re going five games. That’s the difficult part. We’ve made some adjustments. I was pleased with the score. We’ve just had a rocky road with the medical situations. They’re really fighting.”

Bruckner missed about two weeks after cancer surgery Aug. 28. She still is on the court nearly the entire match.

“After she had her surgery, she was in and out, but she’s getting stronger,” Hewitt said. “Give her a little rest and she comes right back in and does the job.”

Brianna Breitner and Katelyn Kidd both had 8 kills for the Bulldogs.

“Katelyn did a really nice job,” Hewitt said. “She played all the way around tonight. I never took her out.”

Back-to-back kills by Breitner helped Summerfield take a 4-0 lead in the second game. The Bulldogs still led at 8-6, but Whiteford immediately went on a 10-0 run with Courtney Schroyer serving for 9 straight points.

Summerfield came closest to winning in the sixth and final game. Buckner’s kill gave her team an 18-16 advantage. The Bobcats answered with a 4-0 run. Kelly Walker had a kill and ace, and Funchion and Baker followed with kills.

Whiteford will put its unbeaten TCC record on the line next week with two huge matches against Morenci and Adrian Madison.

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